A fair ride?

 Equity-driven bus route changes leave parents concerned about children's safety


It’s a common practice for students all across the country. They wake up, get ready for school and walk to their bus stop. On most city streets, children can follow sidewalks to their stops and wait safely on that sidewalk until the bus arrives. When they are dropped off, they again follow that sidewalk home.
But the Lockport City School District also transports children from the town, where most roads are not sidewalk-lined. Even in the city, not every road has a sidewalk.
That is why many parents appreciated the driveway pick-up and drop-off that, until this year, the district offered. In November 2013, the district fielded an appeal from one parent in the town who did not think it was fair that the bus did not come down her street, but did go onto other neighboring streets. Assistant Superintendent of Finance Deborah Coder said the board reviewed the appeal and determined the parent was correct. The setup was “not equitable,” and so a change was made.

The change did not sit well with parents in the neighborhood whose route was changed mid-year, and they fought to have it changed back. The group, led by Jon May, appeared at board of education meetings, wrote letters and started a Facebook page, “Lockport Parents Demanding Bus Safety.” Their appeal led the board to worry that the inequity issue might not just exist in one area, so they decided to take a look at all bus routes district-wide. In December 2013, a transportation task force committee, made up of Ridge Road Express employees and district officials, set out to study all routes.  “That involved driving into the neighborhoods,” Coder said. “That involved using Google maps, gathering information about the number of students that were on the buses, the schools those students attended.” When the review process was over, the committee identified 31 neighborhoods — whether they were cul-de-sac, dead end streets or neighborhoods — where bus routes should be changed. Its recommendations were OK’d by the district’s policy committee and adopted by the board of education this past August. Coder said Ridge Road Express was told of the new policy and asked to amend its routes. Because of the time frame, Coder said there wasn’t enough time to send a personal letter to each family alerting them to the change. Ridge Road had already sent out postcards informing households of their student’s bus route for the year.